Welcome to the Shroomery Message Board! You are experiencing a small sample of what the site has to offer. Please login or register to post messages and view our exclusive members-only content. You'll gain access to additional forums, file attachments, board customizations, encrypted private messages, and much more!

Try loosening the lids a little or taking the tape off the lidholes. If the cake needs to colonize the other 10% on the bottom you can flip the jar over, tap it in the palm of your hand to make the cake slide down te jar a bit..this helps my friend usually.

My jars still have some condensation, but are growing ok except for one. There is one round circle of growth maybe an inch wide on the bottom, it is very bright white, but has not grown at all. The jars seem to be colonizing very fast except for that one. I am concerned because it is the one with the most moisture. I untaped, losened lids, and flipped, but nothing is working. Should it be trashed, or just left alone to see what happens??

--------------------"The United States is nation of laws; badly written and randomly enforced." -Frank Zappa

actually, i have 3 jars that seem to have that problem now. moisture is worse on the 3 that stalled than any of my other jars.(i have 8) i dont see/smell any contams, but im wondering what is causing that much moisture? how long do i leave jars flipped? I am doing something wrong....i wish i had a scanner I'd show pics. i have maybe 3 jars that are looking perfect(at least i think so), and colonizing fast. one has no moisture, the other two have slight condensation. The jar I mentioned in the previous post is not going to make it I don't think....the mycelium is looking a little gray now, and moisture is worse. help me!!!

--------------------"The United States is nation of laws; badly written and randomly enforced." -Frank Zappa

neverwhere, I had similar problems with some experimental cakes I'm working with now. I had way too much moisture in my jars, causing slight discoloration (light yellowing or brownish-yellowing) of the mycelium. Eventually, the mycelium in spots began to turn a bluish-gray. I found that removing the tape off of the holes and flipping the jars (slamming them lightly, lid down into the palm of my hand first to make the cake slide down in the jar a bit) helped speed colonization, and actually seemed to somewhat decrease the moisture in the jars. After birth, these cakes have recovered nicely, and are pinning profusely.

Keep a close eye on the grey stuff, as it might be contam. Hippie3 gave me a great tek for determining whether this was contam or just bluing or dying mycelium. He recommended that after the cake was birthed, that (with washed hands using anti-bacterial soap) I lightly smear the blue spot(s) with my finger. Watch for smearing of the color..if that happens, not good. Second, try spraying a little H2O2 onto one of the blue spots and watch for running of the blue color, also a bad sign.

neverwhere, I had similar problems with some experimental cakes I'm working with now. I had way too much moisture in my jars, causing slight discoloration (light yellowing or brownish-yellowing) of the mycelium. Eventually, the mycelium in spots began to turn a bluish-gray. I found that removing the tape off of the holes and flipping the jars (slamming them lightly, lid down into the palm of my hand first to make the cake slide down in the jar a bit) helped speed colonization, and actually seemed to somewhat decrease the moisture in the jars. After birth, these cakes have recovered nicely, and are pinning profusely.

Keep a close eye on the grey stuff, as it might be contam. Hippie3 gave me a great tek for determining whether this was contam or just bluing or dying mycelium. He recommended that after the cake was birthed, that (with washed hands using anti-bacterial soap) I lightly smear the blue spot(s) with my finger. Watch for smearing of the color..if that happens, not good. Second, try spraying a little H2O2 onto one of the blue spots and watch for running of the blue color, also a bad sign. In my case, the cakes passed both tests and are on their way to producing their first fruits.

On a side note, I'm using 3 different terrarium setups. The cakes in the heated perlite container are showing many more pins that the standard PF dual chambered terrarium.